Got Ink?

I do know.  And this is about my experience with getting a tattoo, something I’ve wanted to do about fifty years now.  This was on my bucket list with a few other things that I’m not sure I’ll get to, but we’ll see as time goes on.

Now, getting a tattoo isn’t an awful experience for those of you who think it might be.  This wasn’t ever a fear for me, although I’m not that fond of needles.  My issue was obtaining approval, which wouldn’t have been needed if I’d done this year’s ago.  None of that is important now.

The finished tattoo.  I love it!

My new tattoo was my birthday present this year.  I’d do it again in a heartbeat.  It was painless and the guy I used is such an artist.  Much research went into the best place to go in town though.  I would recommend this place highly.

When hubby gave me the gift certificate I couldn’t believe my eyes!  I was ready to get out of the house and do it that day.  Perhaps I thought this opportunity would vanish if I didn’t act as soon as possible.  So I did go to the place and introduce myself and told them what I wanted.  They set the appointment for the next day.  I was so excited.

My neighbor went with me because she wanted to see it done and didn’t have anything else to do that day.  I had to lie on a massage type table on my stomach after the guy showed me the design he’d drawn up and we decided on colors.  He uses the color wheel so everything matches in complimentary hues.  Then of course placement as to where on my shoulder I wanted it was discussed.  My neighbor gave her input too, which I was thankful for.  After all, this was so important to me and was finally happening after all these years.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  First (after my approval) they make a copy of the design on paper that actually transfers the artwork to your skin.  The paper is then peeled off and the image is there, as if it’s drawn on paper.  I guess this is similar to putting decals on a T-shirt.

 This is the decal the artist will follow

 

The tattoo artist then took fresh needles out and poured all the ink colors into tiny cups.  He washed his hands several times during the procedure and then gloved up again.  This is a very sanitary place, but they have to pass a health inspection, he told me.

The tattoo artist filling up the ink cups

 These are the cups ready to go

 

 Another shot of the ink with the needles above the tiny cups

Now this whole procedure took three hours to do from start to finish.  I almost fell asleep on the table, no kidding.  It felt like he was drawing on my skin as he inked in the design.  It took a long time to do the black.  The color was done with four-needles-in-one.  That part just felt like scratching as if you had an itch and you scratched it.  None of it hurt.  These needles are very tiny.

 Ben working on my tattoo

 

The worst part of the whole thing was getting a crick in my neck from lying there in one spot for three hours.  I also got a cramp in my leg so moved it around a bit and that went away.

 Drawing the outline came first

 

When the artwork was finished, I could get up and stretch.  He wrapped my shoulder in saran wrap and told me to leave that on for four or five hours.  I ended up leaving it on eight hours before I took it off and washed and doctored it.

Wrapped in saran wrap

A lot of black ink washes off on the first washing.  That’s the excess ink along with plasma that comes to the surface.  He said that was normal and it would take two-four weeks to completely heal.

As I’m writing this, I’m at the end of week two and it’s still peeling because a tattoo is similar to sunburn.  By the time you read this I’ll be at the end of week three.

Anyway, so much for my tattoo story.  I love it and have had it three weeks now and am following instructions that Ben gave me.  I have to wash it four times a day with anti-bacterial soap, air dry and then apply a thin layer of aquafor for four weeks.  Black ink did get on my pillow case the first week because of the aquafor and probably more excess plasma, but it washed right out and it’s not doing that anymore.  It’s more in the itchy stage now. 

If anyone out there decides to get a tattoo, don’t scratch it so you won’t ruin it and do your homework so you go to a reputable place.

Now I have to tell you a funny story because my neighbor laughed all the way home about this.  A young kid came in while I was there (you have to be eighteen to enter the place) so we think possibly he just had his birthday.  He said he lived with his parents and told them he went to the gym but actually came there for his first tattoo.  He decided on a pair of cowboy boots with a snake twined around them.  Of course this kid thought he was so macho but he kept saying “Please can we take a break.  I need a soda.  This is really painful.”  And I was on the next table in the next cubicle, saying “Wow, this doesn’t hurt a bit.  I could fall asleep.”

My Birthday Boy

Raven - two years old

Okay, this a few days late.  I don’t know where the time goes and can’t believe he’s two already!  Raven’s birthday was the first, but I didn’t get my camera card downloaded until last night and then had 167 pics on it.  That took a while, especially when I need a new computer.  But that will have to wait for now.  There’s a few things wrong with this one, but so far, I’m managing as is.  I have to because my car needs a few repairs too, unfortunately.

Also hubby is back so it’s harder to get an hour or two to get on the computer.  That’s destroying my NaNo project, but it’s coming along.  I’m not too far behind yet.

We had to move the tropical plants into the garage tonight because were expecting the first cold front of the year tomorrow.  After work, it will be too cold and dark to mess with that.  I’m so NOT looking forward to winter.  Ugh! 

But I spent all day Monday in the garage rearranging things out there and throwing stuff out and generally cleaning it up.  What a mess!  Now I have cracks on my feet and fingers because it’s so dry here.  I guess I shouldn’t have done the job in flip-flops though, so that was my fault.  It was just so nice.  I couldn’t help it, knowing it would be one of the last days for a while. 

 Raven birthday dinner

 

Raven had a great time on his birthday.  But I think this cat is never unhappy about anything.  Enjoy the pics.

Playtime

Daredevil’s Birthday

Koki

Over the weekend, right after the challenge, my little daredevil, Koki, had her tenth birthday.  It’s hard to believe I’ve had her that long.  Time is flying by too fast.  I can remember the day we found her all bloody behind my back tire.

I don’t know if any of you celebrate birthdays for your animals but I do because they’re my kids.  Usually on birthdays, they get their favorite food.  In Koki’s case, this is cheese, something she got used to when she had a broken jaw as a wee baby.

The vet sewed a baby button on her chin after he wired her jaw shut.

I thought this was amazing.  I'd never seen anything like it before.

  
And I make them a birthday hat if it’s a momentous birthday, which ten qualifies for.  Of course, Koki isn’t one to sit still for a picture of her in a hat so I made her a necklace instead.  She didn’t particularly like that either, but I did manage to get a somewhat suitable pic. 

Koki turns ten-years-old

Later I got to thinking I should have gotten out the wrapping paper and pretended to wrap a package because she loves to get into the curling ribbon and always lets me put it around her neck.  I know this is because she thinks she’s really getting away with something.

Cats are so much like people in that regard.  It’s a whole lot more fun to do something you aren’t supposed to than to do something you’re told to do.

Anyway, my daredevil feasted on cheese because it was her idea.  I have to pretend I don’t notice her eating or she’ll leave the room.  This is her way of staying in control of her situation, or so she thinks.

She has calmed down some but still does some daredevil feats if it crosses her mind.

Happy birthday baby girl.  I hope I’m writing a post for your fifteenth birthday.

Raven’s First Birthday

Raven - 1 year old

Can you believe my little man is no longer a baby, but is grown up?  I keep telling him not to get old on me.  Time goes by too fast.

He’s so happy he’s big enough to jump on the counters now and get into more things, but he’s good if I tell him to get down.  I don’t mind if he looks out the kitchen window and watches the birds and chipmunks.  I just don’t want him up there when I’m cooking and he knows it and minds well.

 Cat tree destruction and the culprit

He’s still biting on things, as you can see by looking at the corners of the cat tree. It’s even worse now, but that’s the cat’s furniture so I guess its okay except for the fact we have to drag this heavy thing out on the patio and repair it once in a while.

 Raven

Raven’s sleek and shiny.  Overall, he’s a handsome little guy and loves people, always ready to love up on anyone that comes over.  He likes to be doing things and loves to go visiting to the neighbors to see her cat, Snuggles.

 Raven and Koki enjoying the feather whirl

He’s really is happy that Koki is finally playing with him.  That only took her seven months!  It’s on her terms, but he loves it when she’s in the mood.  She seems to like him much better as a grown up cat, even though he’s bigger than her now.

So Happy Birthday to the best natured cat I’ve ever owned.  Raven loves the attention so much that he doesn’t care what I do to him.  He never fusses about anything and always turns that motor on full blast.  I think he’s so grateful to find a forever home and not be out in the cold like he was when they rescued him a year ago.

 Getty Images

On another note, the dreaded day has come to turn the clocks back.  Ugh!  It’s going to be cold and dark for a while.  It’s already crappy here today with dark skies, a brisk wind blowing, rain, and the temp sitting at 57 degrees.  I had to move my tropical’s into the garage two weeks early and about froze out there doing it.

I don’t think this time change would be as bad if we didn’t lose a whole hour all at once.  That’s hard on me every year.  I guess the spring countdown will be starting at my house.

Don’t tell me it’s another repair bill?

Free clipart

Daily life brings a lot of joy, but it also hands you crap occasionally.  Today was one of those days.  This morning we discovered the fridge had quit.  Lucky for us, we have another fridge in the garage.  We called a repairman and then moved everything to the other fridge and freezer.

The technician called us back and said he couldn’t come until Monday because he was too busy.  What?  Monday!  This will never do and was quickly becoming a frustrating situation.  He gave us the name of another repairman he knew, so we called him.

As it turned out the second guy never showed up, claiming he tried to call us, but our phone never rang.  We were here all day waiting for him too, so Tootie missed her vet appointment to get her eye checked today.  This is a whole other story about what has been going on here for the last month or so.  I’ll fill you in on the next post.

We are giving the repairman the benefit of a doubt, thinking maybe he wrote down the wrong number, but this is quite typical behavior for where I live.  We’ve had to wait on people all day only to have them not show up or bother to call us.  I won’t miss this when we move.

Now Tootie won’t make her vet appointment tomorrow either because we’ll be waiting for this man again.  We have no time as to when he’ll be here.  I probably won’t take her in now until next week.  I think her eye is on the mend anyway.  It would just be nice to have the vet confirm it.

I hope that this will be a simple fix and we won’t need a new fridge.

May Pole

On another note, today is my mother’s birthday, Mayday.  Everyone’s going out for Mexican food.  That’s no surprise.  Mexican is the one thing they can all agree on to eat.  I wish I were there too, but maybe next year.  I hope one of my sisters will take pictures to send to me, and to my little sister in New York.

 My mother

Raven’s now six months old and getting to be quite a handsome boy.  We had company today, our Aussie friends, and he was all over them, purring and playing and being a social butterfly.  This is my handsome little man.

 Raven - six-months-old

The resident lizard is still making herself at home in the fireplace.  She must have been out on the town last night because she wasn’t in there.  Hee-hee.  I don’t know if she had a hot date or not.  I determined this was a female lizard because she doesn’t have the colorful underbelly the males do.  The cats enjoy watching her through the screen.

 Lizard in the fireplace

 Lizard in the fireplace

It’s windy here in the desert again today.  This makes day number three of wind gusts up to 40 mph.  Big earth movers are stirring up the dust preparing the ground for the new house going in two lots down from us.  I kept the windows closed, which I hate to do, being there are so few days in the year we can open them.  The building crew is keeping long hours over there having run into the underground stream we told them was there.  They’ve had to change their plans so the house doesn’t start to sink and crack later.  A guy has owned that lot for twenty years and finally decided to move down here and build a house on it.  I guess we’ll hear the noise from all the construction soon.  The cats love all the action that’s taking place.

 A to Z survivor's badge

Congrats to all who entered and finished the A to Z challenge this year.  It was fun.  I enjoyed hopping over to read others blogs.  Thank you to the ones who read my posts and to my new followers.

Until next time...

Look Whose Turning 7 Today?



It’s my baby girl, Koki.  She wasn’t too happy with the birthday hat, but she puts up with me anyway.  It’s just hard to believe that I’ve had her this long already.

She is such a little character and the best thing that has happened to me since moving to the desert.  It seems there is never a lack of creativity on her part when it comes to driving me crazy and scaring me half to death.

This cat is a daredevil and, even at seven, is still bouncing off the walls at times.  I’m always afraid she’ll break something that’s irreplaceable, but so far we’re good.  There are some ways you can take precautions, but you can’t do that with everything.  Once she almost knocked the TV out of the cabinet, so now I make sure those doors are closed if it’s not in use.  I shudder to think what my husband would do to her if that becomes a reality.

If you bring something into the house, such as a ladder, she has to climb it to the top.  Anything like that is an invitation and challenge.  Luckily, most of the time cats land on their feet because she starts wreathing and making crazy moves up there.  So far the only time she’s really hurt herself is when she jumped off the balcony as a kitten.  I don’t really think she thought about her actions first and what kind of repercussions they could have on her.  She quickly learned when she broke two teeth and had to have them pulled.

But I honestly think this cat is immune to pain.  She did have a broken jaw when we found her as a kitten under my car one summer morning in June.  She was only 6 weeks old then and had to have her mouth wired shut for about 2 months.  She was a little trouper and getting at the dry food was a great challenge for her.  She couldn’t eat that even for a short while after the wire came out and it was a constant battle to keep her out of it.

She will push you when given the chance.  Even when she knows she’s doing something that she shouldn’t be doing, like walking on the curtain rods, she just looks mischievously and does it anyway to see what I’ll do.  There seems to be no end to things she comes up with, but I hate to see her grow old too, so I’m glad she’s still very kitten-like.